Object name: Costume / Collection place: Livingstone, Zambia / Accession number: Acc.1685 - Hearst Museum Portal Search Results

Start Over Object name Costume Collection place Livingstone, Zambia Accession number Acc.1685

Hearst Museum object titled Costume, accession number 5-2626a-c, described as A) Dance costume (Likishi) made of looped fiber; root of musamba; shirt (chivuvu) with gloved hands; red and black. B) Leggings (mikono); same material and technique as (A). Mask similar to 2625 worn. This costume is used by male dancers in the circumcision ceremonies to frighten the young initiates, and can be used with various masks such as the kapongo. A special man knits the costume (a boy who has learned the secrets after his initiation) but has no special tribal name. The costume is made by the Luvale, Chokwe, Mbunda, Luchase and Kanpala tribes, of the roots of the musamba which is made into fiber by rolling it on the theigh and then it is knitted.